Permutation lock



Aug. 9, 1938. J. P. VAN DINE ET AL PERMUTATION LOCK Filed May 4, 1936 Ifive/Zions Patented Aug. 9, 1938 r I UNITED STATES PERMUTATION LCOCKJames P. Van

Dine and Helmar E. Van Dine, Cambridge, Mass.

Application May 4, 1936, Serial No. 77,676

5 Claims.

The present invention relates broadly to permutation locks, sometimestermed combination locks, and is applicable generally to looks of thetype mentioned irrespective of their intended 5 use: it is hereindisclosed, for purposes of illustration, in the form of a permutationpadlock.

' The principal object of this invention is to provide a permutationlock wherein the locking action is effected .through the cooperation ofthe housing of the locking mechanism and the shackle, when one end ofthe shackle is held fixed within and relative to the housing by thelocking mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide a permutation lockwherein the movement, within the housing of the locking mechanism, ofone end of the shackle is controlled by the locking mechanism. I I

Another object of this invention is to provide a, permutation lockwherein the permutation locking mechanism is alterable only when thepermutation lock is in the opened or unlocked state.

Another objectof this invention is to provide a permutation lock whereinthe permutation locking mechanism cannot be manipulated in any mannerrevelatory of the settings to be made to efl'ect the opening of thepermutation lock.

These, and other, objects are fully realized in the present inventionwhich consists in the construction, combination and arrangement ofparts, hereinafter fully described and immediately illustrated in theaccompanying drawing disclosing the preferred embodiment of theinvention, wherein I Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the permutationpadlock when in the closed or locked state;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the permutation padlock when in theopened or unlocked state;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation, on enlarged scale, of the permutationpadlock in the closed or locked state with the rear face of the lockingmechanism housing removed to disclose the locking mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation, on enlarged scale, of the permutationpadlock in the opened or unlocked state with the'rear face of thelocking mechanism housing removed to disclose the locking mechanism, butwith only a portion of the shackle shown;

Fig. 5.is a sectional view of a portion of the locking mechanism, takenalong the line 5, 5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to the view (Cl. "Ia-29) anism, savethat the permutation padlock is in the closed or locked state, as shownin Fig. 3.

Throughout the drawing, similar numerals of reference indicatecorresponding parts in the several figures.

A casing I0, provided with two lateral apertures l2 and lll, and a coverplate (not shown) secured to the casing In by the rivets Hi When, thepermutation padlock is completely assembled, form a housing for thelocking mechanism of the permutation padlock. Mounted pivotally, in and.within this housing, upon the hub I8 is a three-arm spider 20, each ofwhose arms is provided with an arcuate dog 22 and a detent arm 2 therespective purposes and uses of which will be set forth presently. Toone of the arms of; the spider 20 is pivotally attached, by means of thestud 2B, the shackle 28' at the end of its longer arm, which extendsthrough the aperture H2 in the casing in from without the housing: whenthe spider 2|] may be rotated in the direction of the detent arms 24,(counterclockwise in Figs. 3 and 4) the longer arm of the shackle 28 maybe forced into the housing and, in consequence of the shape of theshackle 28, the end of the shorter arm thereof is caused to registerwith the second aperture I l in the casing in and then to entertherethrough into the housing, so that the shackle 28 assumes theposition shown in Fig. 3. 1

Three tumblers 30, provided with flanges 32, are mounted rotatably inthe face of the casing in and are maintained in position by the coactionof the face of the casing m, the flanges 32, the

, dial plates 34, the expanding springs 36 seated in the recesses of thetumblers 30, and the bolts 38, hearing stop means M and threaded intothe dial plates M. Each of the tumblers 30 is provided with a series ofholes 42, circularly distributed upon the emergent face of the tumbler,and each of the dial plates 3% is provided with a pin M adapted toengage in any one of the holes M of its respective tumbler.Springmembers t6, t8 and. 5|], supported on the rivets iii, are bent tomake, at their free ends, contact yieldingly with the inner faces of theflanges 32, enabling the free ends of the spring members to ride in andan arcuate slot 54 adapted to receive one of the arcuate dogs 22 at adefinite position, defined a'ngularly, of the tumbler 30: when not lessthan all of the three tumblers 30 are in such definite positions,defined anguiarly, the arcuate dogs 22 can enter into the arcuate slots54, thus permitting rotation of the spider 20 and resulting in theopening or unlocking of the permutation padlock. In the closing of thepermutation padlock, the arcuate dogs 22 are simultaneously andcompletely withdrawn from the arcuate slots 54,

' and any displacement from position, by rotation,

arcuate dog 22 in the arcuate slot 54.

of any one or more of the tumblers 30 will render rotation of the spider20 impossible oi accomplishment, thus maintaining the permutationpadlock in the closed or locked state.

The construction of the tumblers 30, as shown in Figs. and 6, isdesigned to permit variation in the angular relation between the dialplates 34 and the arcuate slots 54, and hence to permit the changing ofthe settings of the dials for the opening of the permutation padlock,when, but only when, the permutation padlock is in the opened orunlocked state. Thus, when the permutation padlock is in the opened orunlocked state, as 'is shown in Fig. 4, the dial plate 34 can be pulledforward by means of its knob 52 against the action of the expandingspring 35, thus disengaging the pin 44 from the particular one of theholes 42 wherein it was engaged, and the dial plate 34 can then berotated into a new position relative to its tumbler 30, and the pin 44may then be permitted to engage in another one of the holes 42: duringthese operations, the tumbler 30 is maintained in position fixed againstrotation by the engagement of the In this manner, the angular relationbetween the dial plates 34 and the arcuate slots 54 can be varied andthe settings of the dials for the opening of the permutation padlock canbe changed. But

Since the complete penetration, throughout their lengths, of the arcuateslots 54 by the arcuate dogs 22 is required in order that the lock mayopen, the settings of the dials must be made with considerableexactness. And the spring members 46, 48 and 50, restricting themovement of the tumblers 30 to rotations in one direction,

eliminate the possibility of feeling out thesettings by manipulations ofthe dials.

The present invention is not to be limited to the specific embodimentherein disclosed for the purpose of illustration, but must be regardedas embracing all modifications and variations within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a permutation lock of the character described, in combination, ahousing, a rotatable 'member pivoted in the housing, a tumbler mountedrotatably in the housing, a bolt rotatable within the tumbler, a dialplate and stop means carried by the bolt at its opposite ends, expandingspring means borne by the bolt and interposed between the tumbler andthe stop means and a detent arm borne by the rotatable member andinterposable between the stop means and the tumbler by rotation of therotatable member.

2. In a permutation lock of the character described, in combination, ahousing provided with two apertures, a rotatable spider pivoted in thehousing and having a plurality of arms each one of which bears acircumferentially disposed arcuate dog, a shackle one arm of whichpasses .through one of the apertures in the housing and is pivoted atits end to one arm of the rotatable spider and the other arm of which isadapted to pass through the other aperture in the housing upon rotationof the rotatable spider, a plurality of tumblers disposed equi-distantlyfrom the axis of rotation of the rotatable spider, each tumbler beingmounted rotatably in the housing and having an arcuate slot adapted toadmit and to receive one of the arcuate dogs upon rotation of therotatable spider when the tumbler is in a given position,.rotationallydetermined, relative to the housing.

3. In a permutation lock of the character described, in combination, ahousing provided with two apertures, a rotatable member pivoted in thehousing, a shackle one end of which passes through one of the saidapertures and is pivoted to the pivoted rotatable member and the otherend of which is adapted to pass into the housing through the otheraperture, and hand operable tumblers cooperating with the pivotedrotatable member for locking and unlocking against rotatory movement thepivoted rotatable member when both ends of the shackle are positionedwithin the housing.

4. In a permutation lock of the character described, in combination, ahousing provided with two apertures, a rotatable member pivoted in thehousing, a shackle one end of which passes through one of the saidapertures and is pivoted to the pivoted rotatable member and the otherend of which is adapted to pass into the housing through the otheraperture, an arcuate dog borne by the pivoted rotatable member, and atumbler rotatable in the housing and provided with an arcuate slotadapted to admit and to receive the arcuate dog upon rotation of thepivoted rotatable member.

5. In a permutation lock of the character described, in combination, ahousing, a rotatable member pivoted in the housing, a tumbler mountedrotatably in the housing and provided with a series of holes circularlydistributed upon 'its external face, a boltrotatable within the tumbler,a dial plate and stop means carried by the bolt at its opposite ends, apin carried by the dial plate and adapted to engage in any one of theseries of holes in the external face of the tumbler, expanding springmeans borne by the bolt and interposed between the tumbler and the stopmeans, and a detent arm borne by the rotatable member and interposablebetween the stop means and the tumbler by rotation of the rotatablemember.

JAMES P.'VAN DINE. HELMAR E. VAN DINE.

